A Matlab help browser is a GUI or Graphical User Interface tool for labelling, measurement and analysis of data. The help navigator pane of the tool bar allows you to double click on any cell in a workbook or Matlab workspace and get instant help on the particular cell. This interactive feature helps you make instant decisions about your data based on your requirements. Let us see some of the benefits of the Matlab help browser that help makes your tasks easier.
- Instant help: You can find help functions at the front end of the Matlab notebook like the plot function, statistics, cells, matrix, plotting, group by, etc. There is a help browser for all these operations at the same place. Just enter the name of a function in the help browser and click on it. It will give details of the function and a clear picture of the usage of the function. There are also filters available to show only the cells with relevant information.
- Display pane for customizing the help browser: There is a tab called ‘Notes’ in the Matlab notebook’s display pane. The tab displays the current help browser configuration, the number of displays and the Matlab help navigator pane. You can easily change the display pane by clicking on the appropriate icons. For customizing the Matlab help navigator pane, you can select any one of the icons of the ‘Help’ group in the tab. The help browser shows a variety of customizations that can be performed like renaming multiple columns in a column; setting a specific value for each column or plot. There is a help navigator for almost all functions in the Matlab notebook including mathematically based expressions, data filtering, format detection, plotting, multiple display list creation, sorting, minimum/maximum values, sorting by specific criteria and sorting by dates.
- Special help browser for customizing the display pane: In addition to the Matlab help navigator, there is also a next page dedicated help browser pane for managing custom visual elements. The tab displays the currently selected help functions in a vertical manner for simple navigation. The left pane displays the Matlab default visual contents while the right pane displays the Matlab customized visual contents. You can easily switch between the two panes using the toolbar at the top of the Matlab help browser pane. There is also a shortcut button for switching between the two panes.
- Specialized help commands: There are specialized help commands in the Matlab help browser for additional convenience. These commands are especially helpful for users who are familiar with the complex features offered by the Matlab command window but who are not comfortable with the various menus available in the help menu. The following commands are available under the ‘Help’ group in the Matlab tool bar: mouse-over Help, recent files, online help, page in help, print command, save as, stop editing etc. New in version 5.2, the new ‘My Matlab Account’ dialog box has been added. The box lets you enter your login details and store multiple user information in a central database for further convenience.
- Matlab Reference Pages: The Matlab reference pages offer quick access to various important manuals and help commands. To get to the Matlab reference page, click on the the’reference’ option from the Matlab menu. A list of manuals and help commands will be displayed in the the’reference’ section. There is a shortcut button to go to the first manual page in the reference list. The Matlab help browser can also be used to quickly jump to any Matlab help topic in the user guide.
- Customizable Help Explorer: A customizable help navigator allows you to display all the available Matlab documentation in a side panel along with the definition and arguments for every command in the panel. You can also add more manuals to the display pane by using the shortcut buttons. When you are in the help navigator, you can easily move to a particular topic or section and navigate to the definition and argument for that topic or section. If you move your mouse cursor over a Matlab help topic, the information that you have been asked to enter will also be listed here.
- Customizable Help Menu: A new convenient feature of the Matlab help browser is the help menu. The help menu is divided into two panes. The first pane displays all the Matlab documentation that is currently loaded into the browser; the second pane displays the definition and arguments for a Matlab command. You can easily switch between the two panes using the short cut keys usually displayed at the bottom of the Matlab control panel. Furthermore, the Matlab help files can be easily accessed by navigating to the Matlab help files section.